Moth(3)

Roberto Alizar is a monster. Head of the Lacosto Cartel, his bonds with local officials have awarded him the ability to operate a continual prospering business, granting him regard to smuggle whatever he needs around the globe.

We’d raided three of his suspected properties already, only to discover women and children were being used to pack and prepare his heroin deliveries. It’s so damn common it should be considered an epidemic, especially in poverty stricken areas where jobs are hard to come by, especially for women. Most countries don’t have equal rights, so they tend to do whatever necessary to put food on the table. Most of them don’t have husbands to care for them, so drastic measures are implemented in order for them to be able to provide.

The more innocent the woman looks, the easier it is to slip through international security, so they’re always looking for the young and hungry they can take advantage of and make mules. The woman is of no importance to them, therefore if she doesn’t make it back, they’ll replace her and move on. It makes me sick.

Known for his trademark logo of a raccoon with crossbones, his drugs are professionally packaged and sealed before they’re distributed. During our last seize they were using taxidermy animals for stuffing and shipping via cargo trailers to locations with nearby ports. They’ll have a liaison waiting at an undisclosed location to unload the paraphernalia before the ship reaches port authorities. We’re not exactly sure how long that plan has been in place. We only recently discovered they were operating and were able to put a stop to it.

We have on good authority that they’re now involved in a plan to use synchronized drones to smuggle contraband into the United States without being detected. If that happens, there’s no telling how much will slip by us. We’ve implemented a new unit that will specialize in this type of activity, which I’m pretty stoked about.

We’ve worked alongside the border patrol police, and the FBI in hopes to try and nab this criminal. He’s wanted for over forty known murders. It’s suspected he’s killed his own family members when they got greedy and stole from him. This guy is the worst of the worst. He’s not the first drug lord we’ve taken down, but he will go down as one of the most elusive criminals we’ve ever had the pleasure of bringing into custody.

Lucky for us, we’ve placed people on the inside to collect intelligence. Millions of dollars have been invested in the capture of this guy. Two FBI agents lost their lives several years ago after being discovered within one of his operations. Since then he’s been a recluse. In the beginning we thought he was just a myth, created to disguise the real kingpins so they couldn’t be discovered. No matter how hard we tried, we could never locate the infamous kingpin, up until now. While his name remains, he stays out of the limelight and lets others run the show. We’ve waited years to set eyes on him. He’s like a chameleon, always changing his appearance and staying in remote places without visitors. All we have are pictures of what he looks like, making our job extremely difficult. Our inside agents have only been able to infiltrate his tight circle on a few occasions, and his second in command is who they go to. We know he’s not the one we want. Sure, he could provide us with intel, but it would be a waste of time. We want the leader of this organization. This guy has always known what we’re going to do even before we’ve decided to make a move. He’s smart and patient, which makes him highly dangerous. He’s unpredictable, and he likes setting an example for others to follow, going as far as to cut someone’s throat while sitting next to him at the dinner table. No one is safe. He doesn’t trust many. If we don’t act now there’s a chance the agents on the inside won’t last much longer. “Maria called this morning. She said he’s flying in on a private plane to a farm nearby. We’re going to ambush him before he can exit that plane. He’ll only have a few of his employees with him making it easier for us to contain the area. Once we have him in custody we’ll seize everything at the compound as planned. The other ground unit will be in position within the hour. We’ll slowly be able to infiltrate and seize all of his properties, including the narcotics and people involved with the cartel. Everything is a go.”

He nods. “Sounds good, boss.”

We’ve arrived at the designated surveillance platform we’d been using for the past two years to collect intel for our current operation, only to have to take a helicopter and finally an off-road vehicle to reach the drop site. I’d never been one to settle in one place, probably from being a military brat, so traveling for work has it’s benefits. It also carries a kind of danger most people won’t see in their whole lives. After spending most of my twenties in the Marines, followed by law enforcement, and other government positions involving international intelligence, I’d landed a position with the Drug Enforcement Agency. The vigorous training was unlike any I’d experienced. We are the best of the best, having divisions all over the world. My unit is based out of Miami, but for the past several years I’d been back and forth to Guatemala, spending most of my time forcing the hand of my informants in order to finalize what needed to be done for our bust. I’m used to living out of a bag, only communicating with family a few times a year, and basically being invisible for my own security. People in my line of work usually don’t have families, and if they were married it never lasted long. I’d seen my fair share of divorces happening with other members of my unit. There were times where we had to go off the grid for weeks, even months. It was no kind of life for a wife and children to have to live.